Sunderland fans are on tenterhooks awaiting confirmation of the club's latest second takeover in the space of 16 months.

The imminent arrival of four wealthy American businessmen – John Phelan, Glenn Fuhrman, Robert Platek, and Michael Dell – is a mouthwatering prospect for a club that has been in decline for years.

The new owners, collectively operating through MSD Partners, have clearly identified an opportunity to get in on (almost) the ground floor at a club which, despite its current status in the third tier, comes with a proven top flight pedigree, a rich history, and a huge fanbase.

They are buying in to a club whose potential has not been realised, and where - if Sunderland can be restored to the Premier League - the return on their outlay will be significant.

They are buying a club that already has top flight infrastructure in place in terms of the Stadium of Light and the Academy of Light, and thanks to the largesse of previous owner Ellis Short, was debt-free when he handed it over to Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven last May.

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Short had not only cleared the debts racked up during his decade in charge, but also the legacy debts he took over from the free-spending Drumaville consortium, and from the more fiscally-responsible Sir Bob Murray era before that.

Sunderland was losing somewhere in the region of £500,000 per week towards the end of Short's reign and he was so desperate to cut his losses that he virtually gave the club away to Donald and Methven, selling for a relative pittance – of the £40m purchase price touted at the time, only £15m came directly from the new owners, with the remainder made up of parachute money which was handed over to pay off a bank loan.

Since then, Donald and Methven have offloaded high-earners, sold players for whom fees could be recouped, and made a series of cutbacks in staffing levels and expenditure to leave a club that can exist, if not entirely within its means, then one whose losses are at least manageable in League One.

Donald and Methven have been up front from Day One, admitting they could not take on a club of Sunderland's size by themselves and making it clear they would need to attract new investors.

Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori took a 20 percent stake last August, but his political aspirations in South America meant he was only ever a bit-part player.

The 'under new ownership' signs might have gone up on Wearside in July but a summer spent waiting for Mark Campbell's proposed takeover to materialise proved to be a waste of time, with the businessman and his team getting as far as picking offices at the Academy of Light only for the deal to fall through, and less than a month later he bought Scottish League One side Falkirk instead.

But it seems that Sunderland's new owners-in-waiting are the real deal.

They certainly have the financial muscle, with Phelan, Fuhrman, and Platek wealthy men in their own right, while Dell – who will take a backseat role – is rated as the 25 richest person in the world according to the highly respected Forbes list.

However money is not everything – how it is spent is equally important.

Former Sunderland owner Ellis Short (Image: Sunderland AFC)

After all, Short is a multi-billionaire and in the early days he pumped money into the club but it was frittered away and it was on his watch that the club suffered back-to-back relegations.

We do not yet know the extent of the new owners' ambitions for the club, nor how much they are prepared to invest.

The transfer window is closed until the New Year, so any investment in the squad cannot take place until mid-season at the earliest.

And any investment they make must fit within the constraints of the EFL's Financial Fair Play, and Salary Cost Management Protocols.

It may be that their impact will only be fully felt should Sunderland win promotion to the Championship.

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As to how their money is spent, in that area Donald and Methven will play a crucial role.

They will remain involved in the day-to-day running on Wearside and, while they will no longer be calling the shots, they will be there internally to offer advice on footballing matters to the new regime, and externally as the public face of the club as far as fans and the media are concerned.

While the wait for news goes on, Sunderland fans will continue to pray that the impending takeover will prove to be a gamechanger which sees the club emerge from the doldrums at last.

The only note of caution is that too much will be expected too soon.

The path back to the Premier League involves a long ladder and a lot of climbing – there are no express lifts linking League One and the Promised Land.